Overview

Metadata is data about data. For example, when saving a file, your device automatically records information about when the file was created or modified. Code42 CrashPlan supports file metadata, like file modification date, and embedded metadata on all platforms. Downloaded files will include supported metadata as described in this article.

Why is metadata important?

Metadata gives context to our files and lets us use them in a functional way. For instance, file extensions are a basic form of metadata that give files context. Without a file extension, your device can’t differentiate a text file from a photo. The file extension metadata tells your device what applications can open the file.

Restore metadata

Supported metadata is included in your downloaded files. However, there are several considerations:

Different operating system: If you download a file to a different operating system than the one where the file originated, CrashPlan may not be able to include metadata supported by the original operating system. Download files on a device using the original operating system for best results.

What metadata can I include?

CrashPlan supports restoring specific forms of metadata for each operating system listed below. Since different applications can create and store metadata in different ways, we can’t guarantee that every form of metadata can be included. However, we have tested CrashPlan for the types listed below.

Restore to a non-HFS+ file system

When copying a file (and therefore restoring) to a non-HFS+ file system, any info not in the data file is stored in a “dot-underscore” file. For example, if you copy an HFS+ file named MyMug.jpg to a FAT 32 volume, there will be a file named ._MyMug.jpg in addition to the MyMug.jpg file in the same location.

Windows

Supported*

Unsupported

Accessed date

Archive

Created date

Directory

Normal

Modified date

Readonly

Temporary

Compression attribute

DACL (Discretionary Access Control List)

Encrypted

Hidden

Not_Content_Indexed

Offline

Reparse_Point

Sparse_File

System

* For files backed up with CrashPlan app versions 4.4.0 - 4.8.1 and 5.0.0 - 5.4.1, some file metadata may not be backed up correctly under certain circumstances. See our troubleshooting article for more details.